Prominent senators launch plan to overhaul Army Corps of Engineers

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., the champions of campaign finance reform, have embarked on a new effort, this time to revamp the Army Corps of Engineers, which handles billions of dollars of water infrastructure projects.

McCain and Feingold introduced legislation Tuesday with Environment and Public Works ranking member Bob Smith, R-N.H., that they said could save up to $15 billion in water projects by requiring state and local officials to cover a larger share of the costs and allow the Corps of Engineers to drop low-priority projects.

Last month, a bipartisan group of senators introduced water infrastructure legislation that would provide $35 billion over five years to modernize and safeguard the nation's water supply. That legislation was introduced by Environment and Public Works Chairman James Jeffords, I-Vt., and Smith.